Project DIVE
by Foundry Cove
Summary: A new breed of Spartans seen through the eyes of Sam Vickers.
1. Prologue

Project DIVE

Project DIVE is a group of volunteers who want to go beyond being a Spartan IV. These brave men and women, unlike the ODSTs, go head first into heck. Equipped with advanced armor meant specifically for withstanding low orbit free-falls, these daring soldiers jump right out of the airlocks. They free-fall until 1500 feet, then their thrusters kick in. They are meant to drop right into the middle of an enemy encampment and start shooting within seconds. This is the story of Sam Vickers.


	2. Dive

Project DIVE

2554

In Orbit of Mars

POV: Sam Vickers

"How are you feeling Vickers?" the nurse asked me.

"I feel like crap. You know I hate cryo." I replied.

The others members of my team started coming out of their cryo pods. I grabbed my bodysuit from the rack next my pod and put it Major walked in. He cleared his throat and spoke,

"Today you and Alpha team will be doing a training dive down to Mars."

By now the entire team had dressed out. "Now get down to the armory and prepare to dive!" the Major ordered.

Everyone ran out of the room and into the armory. I ran in and started putting on my armor. The Heads-Up-Display activated when I put the helmet on. Thrusters, check. Shields, check. I walked over to the airlock and looked down at Mars.

"Gather 'round people." Samson said. Everyone walked over to the holo-table. I looked at the table.

"In this training exercise we will be dropping into this valley." Samson pointed to said valley. "From there we will move along this ridge to this 'enemy' camp. This is to prove that we can use stealth and not just surprise factor. Alpha team will approach from this ridge and together we will pin the 'enemy' in. Now prepare to dive!"

Everyone lined up at the two airlocks; three Divers per airlock. A countdown appeared in my HUD. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, DIVE! The air locks opened and I jumped out first. I angled myself downwards and started picking up speed. As I closed in on 1500 feet the thrusters activated. I landed softly on the ground.


	3. Training

Project DIVE

**2554**

**A valley on Mars**

**Evenning**

**POV: Still Sam Vickers**

"Charlie actual here. Sound off." Samson said.

"Charlie two here." I said.

"Charlie three here."

"Charlie four here."

"Charlie six here."

"Charlie five sound off." Samson ordered.

"Five's out. His thrusters failed." Charlie three said.

Everyone looked at Three. Next to her was the crumpled figure of Charlie five.

Samson radioed command, "Freedom, we lost five. I repeat we lost five."

"Affirmative. Continue with the exercise. Freedom out."

"Two, take point." Samson ordered.

I jogged along the ridge. The squad followed. As we jogged along silently I thought about Charlie Five. He didn't talk much. I didn't know him very well. What really spooked me about the fall was that that could have happened to anyone of us.

I spotted the camp.

"Stop." I said through the radio.

"Use your camo and cuff 'em." Samson ordered.

One by one the squad disappeared. Six men stood on our side of the camp. I slowly advanced towards one of the men. He held an MA37 in one hand and stuck a cigar in his mouth with the other. I got behind him and readied the handcuffs. On Samson's order the entire squad had the 'enemy' in handcuffs. Behind us Alpha did the same with six men who were on the other side of the camp.

"Freedom, this is Charlie Actual, the 'enemy' is secure. Requesting transport." Samson radioed.

"We have a pelican inbound to your location. Freedom out."

In the sky everyone saw the dark figures of two pelicans descending. As they approached the pilots radioed the two squads, "Razor 01 inbound. Prepare for transport." "Razor 02 inbound."

The pelicans landed and I got on Razor 01 with my 'prisoner' and squad. The squad and I sat in the seats while while the 'prisoners' stood on the "blood tray."


	4. UNSC Freedom Enduring

**2554**

**Orbiting Mars**

**UNSC Freedom Enduring**

**Sam Vickers**

"Freedom Enduring, this is Razor 01. We have the Spartans. I repeat, we have the Spartans."

"We read you Razor. Land in Hangar 2. Freedom out."

"Finally." Charlie Four said dramatically.

"Quit your complaining. It hasn't even been twenty minutes." Three said.

"Quit your complaining. It hasn't even been twenty minutes." Four said in a mock girly voice.

"Don't make me hurt you." Three threatened.

"Oh! I'm so scared." Four said in the same voice.

"Are you guys even Spartans?" One of the marine prisoners asked.

"Yes, they are." Samson growled. Three and Four were silent.

I looked out the window. "We're here." I said. The pelican landed and the hatch lowered. Around us engineers repaired and resupplied pelicans.

A holotank lit up green near us. "Greetings Spartans. I'm Mark, the ship's AI." His avatar was a average height man wearing a tee and cargos. A 1911 was holstered on his hip. "The Major said that you can take your armor off relax for now. I suggest you explore the ship." With that, he disappeared. He popped back up. "Oh yeah. Welcome to the UNSC Freedom Enduring." He disappeared again.

"I hope they have an entertainment center." Dan, Charlie Four, said.

"Tell me when you find it," I said,"for now I'll be in my room."

"I'll see you guys later." Michelle, Charlie Three, said as she walked out of the hangar.

As every started heading their own way I decide to start walking to my room. As I walked down the hallway I got a few glares by a some ODSTs; everyone else gave me a wide berth. I walked into my room and closed the door. The wall opened up to reveal some tools I used to disassemble the armor. I disassembled the armor and sat on my bed. I had a large room to stay in. The ship I was stationed on was a Marathon-Class Heavy Cruiser. I lied down on the bed and passed out.

* * *

**A/N: Only the biggest ships for the Spartans.**


	5. A CAS class

**2555 **

**UNSC Freedom Enduring**

**POV: 3rd person: The Bridge**

Captain Roberts observed the system that the Freedom currently occupied. He sighed. Every planet insight was glassed. The Freedom's mission was to scout out systems that went dark before any news got out. So far, none of these systems had survived.

"Mark." The Captain said. A moment later Mark appeared at the holotable.

"Sir."

"Plot a course for the next system." Roberts said.

"Already doing s- Slipspace rupture! It's Covenant!"

"All crew, man your stations." The Captain announced. "Can you tell the size of the ship?"

"CAS class. It's launching boarding craft and fighters." Mark said.

"Sir, we have a MAC solution." one of the bridge crew said.

"Fire when in range. Tell the pilots to get in their Longswords." Roberts ordered.

"We're in range."

"Fire!"

The MAC round shot out and hit the shields, taking the, out.

"Fire ARCHER pods A1 to A5!"

The missiles shot out towards the Covenant ship, The energy projector took out most, but a few hit.

"They're firing plasma torpedoes!"

"Evasive maneuvers!"

The ship shook.

"The DIVE deck is venting atmosphere!" Mark shouted.

* * *

DIVE Deck

POV: Sam Vickers.

I had just put on my helmet when the wall exploded, taking Charlie Four with it. The decompression sucked me out into space. Now I've seen some scary stuff, but being out in space with plasma and bullets the size of my head flying by, that's panic worthy. Thankfully, I did not. I turned on my boosters and shot back towards the ship. A plasma torpedo passed a little too close by and my boosters failed. I continued to move towards the ship but I had no way of stopping my self.

"Charlie Sound off." Samson said on the comms.

"Two here." I said.

"Six here."

"Four got taken out by the torpedo." I said.

"Three's still out there. Her vitals don't look good." Samson continued. "I'll place a marker on your HUDs. Find her."

"Sir, my boosters are fried." I said as I floated towards the ship.

"I've got her." Six said. He pulled me to the nearest airlock and we went in. Inside marines were running through the halls.

"How are there any of those ships left?" I asked no one in particular.

"Who knows?" Six said as carried Three to the med bay.

We walked into the med bay and the doctors rushed over to Three with a table. Six set Three on the table and let the doctors go to work. The ship shook.

"Let's go." Six said running out of the med bay.4

'Yup, let's go.' I thought as I followed him.

* * *

A/N: Finally got around to writing another chapter. This one is 454 words long. My second longest chapter of all.


	6. It can't be!

**2555**

**UNSC Freedom Enduring**

**Hangar**

**Sam Vickers**

"They're coming through!" A marine shouted. They, the Covenant, were indeed coming through. A few lucky Phantoms had made it through our fighters and ship defenses and were now attempting to board us. A chunk of the blast door fell down and a grunt jumped out.

"Fire!" a marine shouted. Rockets flew into the hole and nothing came out.

"Ahh!" an ODST yelled as he was impaled by an energy sword.

"Spec Ops! We're screwed!" one of pilots tried to run out of the room, but his head exploded. In the panic a few jackals with carbines had jumped out.

"Get your acts together!" I shouted. Some of the Marines started focusing and started shooting. I heard a footstep behind me and ducked as an energy sword activated over my head. The elite roared and tried slashing down at me. I rolled to the side and fired the entire magazine of my MA5C into the Covvie. It fell backwards.

The ship shook very violently and I heard alarms blaring.

* * *

**UNSC Freedom Enduring**

**The Bridge**

The entire bridge crew saw the energy projector charge up and fire.

"Sir! They destroyed the main engines!" Mark said.

"Can we get into slipspace?" The Captain asked.

"Doing so!" The ship went into slipspace.

"Damage assessment, Mark."

"It appears that we still have a secondary engine left."

"That's good.

* * *

**May 5, 2555**

**Unknown System**

**UNSC Freedom Enduring**

**The Bridge**

"Where are we Mark?" The Captain asked.

"It appears we're in the middle of- actually I'm not sure." Mark answered.

"What is that?" one of the crew members said. In the distance there was a ship.

"It can't be! They went missing years ago!" The Captain said in disbelief.

In the distance was the UNSC Spirit of Fire.

* * *

A/N: I've been playing Halo Wars recently, so why not. I also had no other ideas.


	7. Communications

**May 5, 2555**

**Unknown System**

**UNSC Spirit of Fire**

Serina started to reactivate when one of her subroutines alerted her that a UNSC ship had been detected. She immediately started the process of waking all essential personnel.

* * *

**UNSC Freedom Enduring**

**Bridge**

"Mark, contact that ship. See if anyone's listening." Captain Roberts ordered.

"Aye sir." Mark said. "This is the UNSC Freedom Enduring to the UNSC Spirit of Fire. Is anyone alive over there?"

* * *

**UNSC Spirit of Fire**

**Bridge**

Captain Cutter walked on to the bridge. Anders followed him. "What's going on Serina?" He asked.

"Sir, it appears that we have been found by another UNSC ship, but it appears to be in worse condition than ours."

A voice came over the radio. "This is the UNSC Freedom Enduring to the UNSC Spirit of Fire. Is anyone alive over there?"

"This is Captain Cutter of the UNSC Spirit of Fire."

Another voice came on. "I am Captain Roberts, we picked up your distress signal. Are ship is badly damaged. We have one engine remaining but our FTL drive is still working."

Cutter thought for a second. "We are missing our FTL Drive but our engines are operational. Perhaps we could salvage your ship and combine our crews." he said.

* * *

**UNSC Freedom Enduring**

**Bridge**

**Sam Vickers**

"Captain! What's going on?" Samson asked as the remaining DIVE Spartans entered the Bridge.

"We got hit by the energy projector and then jumped into slipspace. When we came out we found a long missing UNSC ship. We are going to scrap this ship and move onto the UNSC Spirit of Fire." Mark answered for the Captain.

"Thank you Mark." Captain Roberts said. "The wounded are currently being transferred to the Spirit of Fire by pelican. Spartan teams will help with the transfer of the FTL drive to the Spirit of Fire."

"Sir, permission to speak." I asked.

"Permission granted."

"What is our part in the transfer?"

"Report to engineering. You will receive further orders when you get there." The Captain said.

We made our way out of the bridge and jogged down to engineering.


	8. FTL Transfer

**UNSC Freedom Enduring**

**Unknown System**

**Engineering**

**Sam Vickers**

When we arrived at engineering we found a makeshift airlock. On our side of it one of the engineers stood there waiting for us. He approached Samson.

"Are your men's suit's sealed?" he asked. Samson nodded. The engineer continued,"Your team will be assisting in the transport of the FTL drive. You can go in."

Samson, Charlie Six, and I entered the airlock and the door closed behind us. Inside engineering the FTL drive was held in place by some metal beams. Underneath the drive there was a hole into space where two pelicans waited to transport it. Inside the airlock was a spare jetpack that I put on. When we entered the engineering bay a man spoke on the comms.

"Charlie, we are going to need you at these locations." Nav markers appeared on our HUDs. "We are almost ready to disconnect the drive, so get to the locations and get ready to move this thing."

I maneuvered myself into position and waited. After a minute or two the man came on again. "Disconnecting, there! We are ready to go. Charlie, go ahead and move the drive down to the pelicans."

Samson came on. "One second burst on my mark. Mark!" Our jetpacks lit up for a single second. The drive drifted down towards the pelicans. Alpha team waited near the pelicans with cables that were attached to the pelicans. When the drive neared them the moved towards it and connected the cables to it.

"Board the pelicans Charlie." Samson ordered. The ramps opened up and we boosted inside with Alpha team.

* * *

**UNSC Freedom Enduring**

**The Bridge**

Captain Roberts sat in his chair, sipping some coffee. "How's the transfer coming along." he asked.

"They just left for the Spirit, sir." one of the crew answered.

"Good." The Captain said, taking another sip of the coffee. "How far are we on the transfer of the crew?"

"Ninety percent complete. The engineers and DIVE teams Bravo, Delta, and Echo are still onboard." Mark answered. "The DIVE teams will be departing when the pelicans return."

"And the engineers?" Captain Roberts asked.

"They will remain onboard to finish the deconstruction of the ship."

"How's that coming along?" The Captain looked into space at the other ship.

"The removal of the hull is ninety percent complete, the MAC is being removed as we speak, and the removal of the point-defense-guns is almost complete. Based on my calculations, the entire ship should be scrapped in two more days." Mark answered.

"Good."

* * *

**UNSC Spirit of Fire**

**In Space outside of Engineering**

**Sam Vickers**

Samson, Charlie Six, and I sat on the left side of the pelican and Alpha team sat on the right. The ramp lowered and we all moved out of the pelican. Alpha immediately started disconnecting the FTL drive from the pelican while me and the two other members of Charlie got into position to move the drive into position. Four NAV markers appeared on our HUDs.

"Okay Charlie team, we need you you to line up the markers on the drive with the other two." a woman said on the comms. After a minute of maneuvering, the engineers took over and told us to report to Captain Cutter. After a few minutes of navigating the halls, Samson found the bridge and we entered.

"Spartan team Charlie reporting, sir!" Samson said and we snapped to attention.

"At ease." Captain Cutter said. "This is Professor Anders, our onboard scientist." he said.

"I would like to examine your armor, so if one of you would follow me we can begin." Anders said.

Samson nodded to Six and he left with Anders.

"Will that be all, sir?" Samson asked.

"Yes, you are free to make yourself familiar with the ship's layout." Cutter said.

I turned and walked off the bridge and started wandering the halls.

* * *

**A/N: Hey guys, Foundry here. I spent some time on this chapter, 653 words, and I'd like some feedback on how well I did. Constructive criticism is welcome. Thanks for reading so far!**


End file.
